Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to Air Traffic Control and, more particularly, visualizing air traffic.
Description of the Related Art
Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through controlled airspace. The primary purpose of ATC systems worldwide is to separate aircraft to prevent collisions (referred to as separation), to organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide information and other support for pilots when able.
In many countries, ATC services are provided throughout the majority of airspace, and its services are available to all users (private, military, and commercial). When controllers are responsible for separating some or all aircraft, such airspace is called “controlled airspace” in contrast to “uncontrolled airspace” where aircraft may fly without the use of the air traffic control system. Depending on the type of flight and the class of airspace, ATC may issue instructions that pilots are required to follow, or merely flight information (in some countries known as advisories) to assist pilots operating in the airspace.
Air traffic controllers are people trained to maintain the safe, orderly and expeditious flow of air traffic in the global air traffic control system. The position of air traffic controller is one that requires highly specialized knowledge, skills, and abilities. Controllers apply separation rules to keep aircraft at a safe distance from and between other aircraft, terrain, and obstructions in their area of responsibility and move all aircraft safely and efficiently through their assigned sector of airspace, as well as on the ground. The multiple criteria of safety and expeditiousness often conflict, presenting the air traffic controller with difficult decisions. Specifically, while the air traffic controller may wish to maintain a large separation between aircraft to enable safe flight, the need to move large numbers of aircraft through a constrained air space requires a high aircraft density. Further, while the air traffic controller may wish to redirect aircraft which have a potential conflict, these redirects cause the aircraft to maneuver, requiring more fuel and disrupting prior planning, potentially causing a ripple effect as the redirected aircraft becomes more likely to enter the path of another aircraft. Because controllers have an incredibly large responsibility while on duty and make countless split-second decisions on a daily basis, the ATC profession is consistently regarded around the world as one of the most mentally challenging careers, and can be notoriously stressful depending on many variables including equipment, configurations, weather, traffic volume, human factors, etc.
Air traffic controllers are responsible for the safety of aircraft at higher altitudes, in the en route phase of their flight. In most nations they are known as “area” or “en route” controllers. Area controllers are responsible for specific sectors of three dimensional blocks of airspace with defined dimensions. Each sector is managed by at least one Area controller. This can be done with or without the use of radar, though radar allows a sector to handle much more traffic. FIGS. 1 and 1A illustrate a contemporary ATC radar display 10 which may be used by an Area controller. Despite years of effort and billions of dollars spent on computer software designed to assist air traffic control, success has been largely limited to improving the tools at the disposal of the controllers, such as computer-enhanced digital radar. Domestic and international airspace has become increasingly more congested through an increase in traffic volume as illustrated in the exemplary ATC display 12 in FIG. 2. These congested two dimensional displays require the air traffic controller to perform constant mental calculations to determine vertical spacing as the two dimensional displays indicate aircraft altitude only through textual annotation and the air traffic controller must subtract the altitude of one aircraft from another aircraft to determine vertical separation. These calculations involve labor intensive mental processes which are fatiguing and task the situational awareness of the controllers. Additionally, on-screen data clutter reduces situational awareness and task vigilance and also adds to workload rather than reducing it.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a method of better visualizing and managing air traffic data.